200 people came together last night

Last night about 200 people gathered to hear what local people had on their minds as the Northumberland Hills Hospital AGM looms ahead.







The folks in the pics were the people who had something to say. Bill Patchett was the most stirring exhorting the crowd to keep faith in the Hospital. "It's your hospital, the government didn't give it to you they used your money to build it!" He did explain that of all the hospital fundraising campaign in North America Cobourg and District was the highest percapita contributor in measured campaigns. $450 dollars per person compared to the average $250.

Frank Farago used his time to explain the management mistakes observed in watching the CAO, Robert Biron. "Recent cuts do not include management even though the hospital will need less peolpe who are being manged, service cuts were made in the absence of alternate services and finishing with the quote, "hospitals serve patients not provide jobs.""

Deb O'Connor pointed out that low-income people, of all demographics are often unhealthier than the general population and cutting services will affect them the most as care now becomes more inaccessible than before. She suggested a few changes that could be made based on keeping community services local. But as with others she advocated the abolishment of the LHINs.

Peggy Smith described the emotional problem of trying to keep a level head on the very day that she, and all the others on her ward, were told that would be out of a job in September. She also mentioned the problems of trying to access distant clinics.

Rudy Roeleveld, a management consultant, explained, with the aid of PowerPoint his theories of the situation.

And, Tony Farren explained the upcoming AGM and the need for the members to elect him and two others to the Board for "transparency reasons". He explained the problems that his group has had in trying to influence the CAO, working on the onside, they have failed and "the public process of the hospital is one of not listening."

Others, not on the panel, also spoke. Michael Mackenzie, a supporter of the Board spoke with great courage as he publically supported the Board and criticised the "Citizens for Alternative Solutions" as being disruptive.

Others, Lloyd Williams, Bruce Steele, Jerry Ender, Stu Henry and Nancy Blakely all offered their opinions.

So how did it end up? Most people thought it was worthwhile and productive, we now know that are 375 paid-up members of the Association entitled to vote at the AGM for three new members chasing five vacancies. And the meeting was chaired very ably by Bridget Campion.

A guest post about a recent event

The 150^th Anniversary of Victoria Hall came and went. The poetry performance in the Old Bailey Courtroom also came and went. There were two sessions of readings performed by Cobourg Poet Laureate emeritus, Eric Winter, and newly appointed Cobourg Poet Laureate, Jill Battson, and Port Hope resident, Patrick Gray, author of a single book of poetry, The Grace of Light, which is a limited edition.

It was an event organized and set up by the Cobourg Poetry Workshop, largely to promote and proselytize itself and its members. That it had anything to do with Cobourg, or anything to do with Victoria Hall, was almost beside the point.

The poets chose to recite British poets, American poets, and a few Canadian poets. The only link the poems had to Cobourg/Victoria Hall was that they were written during the lifespan of Victoria Hall. How easy and lazy is that! Cobourgers would be correct to think they had been short-changed.

Why was a Port Hope resident engaged to commemorate a Cobourg event? Does Cobourg not have any poets of its own? While it is understandable that the new Poet Laureate, Jill Battson, who was never a resident of Cobourg until 6 months ago, would be ignorant of Cobourg’s literary heritage, indeed, ignorant of the heritage of Victoria Hall, as were all three poets.

It’s not difficult to find the names of Cobourg’s poets of yore who wrote and published during the 150 years of Victoria Hall’s existence.Thomas Page, the cultured editor of the Newcastle Farmer in the later half of the 1840s, blessed Cobourg with two daughters who came to prominence as poets.

Elizabeth Agnes Page, published 36 poems in a 1850 book, Wild Notes from the Back Woods, with ironic parallels to another local poet, Susanna Moodie's, Roughing It In the Bush, which went on to inspire renown poet Margaret Atwood. Her sister, Rhoda Anne Page was well known for her poem,

Voices From The Woods:
Oh! many a voice from the sequester'd wood
May whisper to the soul in thoughtful mood,
Wisdom that comes from Heaven.

Frederick Preston Rubidge (1806-98) was one of Cobourg's earliest poets, was also a producer and actor. He was noted for the sonnet,
`River Otonabee`
Stream of the wilderness, at whose far source
The fierce wolf lappeth, or awaits its spoil;
Through ages rolling thy ignoble course,
But now to flow with corn, with wine, and oil.

Carrie Munson Hoople was another Cobourg poet, who had published ‘Along the Way With Pen and Pencil’, New York, 1909. She was also renowned locally for her incisive parodies.

Other poets that graced Cobourg include Stanley Howell, an insurance broker at the turn of the century who cleverly combined business and poetry, and Dorothy Herriman and Virna (Stanton) Sheard.

Let us not forget that one of Canada`s renown poets, Archibald Lampman (1861-99) was educated at Gores Landing, Cobourg Collegiate and Trinity School, Port Hope.

Cobourg also had poets during the twentieth century and they can be found published in the Cobourg Sentinel Star, especially during the era when Foster Meharry Russell was publisher and editor, as well as a poet and anthologists.

Long before the Cobourg Poetry Workshop existed, poetry was thriving in Cobourg – for five years during the late 1960s, young Cobourg poets published Refraction, containing poems written by individuals who eventually became prominent in the town.
Cobourg has a rich heritage of poetry and poets, but this virtually unknown by the Cobourg Poetry Workshop, but then again, most of the self-declared poets of that group have shallow roots in Cobourg. The Town of Cobourg asserts that the duty of the Poet Laureate is to act ``as a literary ambassador for the Town of Cobourg.

Take a look at the video above and you will see that Glenda Jackson, a member of the Cobourg Poetry Workshop, was proselytizing as a literary ambassador for the group, not the Town of Cobourg
Everywhere they appear, members of the Cobourg Poetry Workshop boast that they are a MAJOR VENUE for poetry in Cobourg. It is sure that they are a known and welcome node for poetry in Canada, but the self-aggrandizement is a bit over the top, especially in light of the fact that they have made negligible inroads in the very community they take their name from: COBOURG.The Cobourg Poetry Workshop organized a greet and meet authors a few weeks back in Grafton. The result was that almost twice as many authors showed up for their kudos people who attended to meet them. Now we have the 150^th Anniversary, and the Cobourg Poetry Workshop failed to arouse any interest amongst the general population of Cobourg. It would appear that the Cobourg Poetry Workshop consists largely of a snobbish crew of the Better Poems and Garden set with no other purpose than the aggrandizement of their paying members. However, I do want to thank the group for their monthly poetry readings, which includes a feature poet from outside the workshop. These `real` poets are all too often my friends and colleagues that I have known for years in the poetry circles and triangles of Canada. It is a treat to have them visit my home town and sometimes drop over to my home.
Wally Keeler

Another piece of the puzzle

This Thursday at 10am drop around to Vic Hall and listen to Stan Frost tell the world why he wants to be Deputy Mayor. He's a budget guy and wants to get his hands on the Town budget, after all he has tuned up on the Police budget for the past three years.

That leaves Billy Mac to make a decision, otherwise the voters will make it for him, by tossing him out in November. In the wings, joining Forest Rowden and Larry Sherwin and John Henderson, will be Wayne DeVeau, who has told a couple of people that he will be running and now that Sue Glover-Dingsdale has her dream job she may not want to join the throng. But bet on at least ten names on the list. And before you ask, I am not making a decision until we can get the Hospital fight over for this year.

More Hospital Campaign meetings

In order of appearance:

"Myth or reality" this event will be at the Best Western and will feature Bill Patchett and his "Sustainable Citizens". finger food, lots of speakers and plenty of questions. 7pm on Tuesday 1st of June. - tomorrow

The "Coalition" meeting June 9th at Trinity United 6.30pm talk about the next phase - lawn signs and more letters to the editor. Don't laugh this has worked and will still work.

The NHH AGM, June 17th Best Western at a time to be determined.

Sometimes it is hard to defend a principle

This week a story broke about an appeal launched by Troy Davey. Now to be fair this clip is not about defending a murderer nor is it an attack on the local police so back off and read this piece carefully. This story, about the appeal, is based on an insidious practice called - jury vetting. Quite popular and seemingly widespread, this practice is the way some Crown Attourneys have been ensuring that juries are less than random. In theory every person demanding a jury trial is entitled to be heard by jurors drawn at random to ensure impartiality. Each side, at trial, is entitled to challenge each juror as they appear in front of the judge for selection. It became obvious, last year, that as part of the jury selection process, when the names of the jury panel were submitted to the local Police for a routine criminal check, that some Police Services, as a favour to the Crown (?) were adding editorial comment to the names. This would indicate if the named person was partial to one side or the other.

If the Cobourg Police Service was doing this then it was part of a widespread problem as the practice is illegal and offensive and could pervert the course of justice by placing friendly people on juries. But it is a question that the Police Services Board has to answer - did they do it and have they stopped it? If a retrial of Troy Davey is necessary to correct this practice then sobeit, a price to pay for a clean system.

Finally some people have voted for "none of the above"

Iceland has elected a party in a recent municipal election that is called "the best party" and is led by a professional comedian. Here is the story. In this quote he justifies the party's name - "Nobody needs to be frightened of the Best Party because it's the best," party leader and comedian Jon Gnarr told RUV, a public broadcaster. "And we only want what is best -- if we didn't, we'd be called the Worst Party or the Bad Party."

So there it is folks the voters' revenge. Perhaps a portent of things to come in the 2010 American midterms and the soontobe Canadian election.

At last - Dan Christie's offensive post

Who Let The Doggerel Out?

The word “manifesto’ is usually preceded by ‘Communist’ –as in The Communist Manifesto, the 1848 blueprint laid out by Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels that dealt with class struggle and the evils of capitalism. Which is not to say only godless commies set out manifestos either. It’s a pretty safe bet that if those protesting the upcoming G8 and G20 conferences in Toronto have a manifesto then so to do the leaders of the G8 and G20.

Both groups have manifestos, it’s just that the wording is slightly different.

Last week Port Hope resident William Spotton, 42, announced his candidacy for mayor –his second attempt at Starting At The Top. His first try in 2003, against Rick Austin, came within 200 votes of success.

Mr. Spotton has a Manifesto 2010 for Port Hope which he says is “about how we can do politics” –the precise meaning of which, I’m afraid to say, totally escapes me. But then, Mr. Spotton is a poet –a poet with an extensive body of work laid bare for all to see at his Baharnai Hayyim (don’t ask…) blogspot website.

Whether or not Mr. Spotton’s poetry was as difficult to write as it is to read is entirely subjective. Personally I prefer the straightforward rhyme and rythym of Robert Service as opposed to the ethereal heartbreak of “The wallet left on a new kitchen counter/Graced by gentle blond highlights” favoured by Mr. Spotton.

Yep, give me The Cremation of Sam McGee any day.

Mr. Spotton’s resume is, shall we say, a tad light. His LinkedIn profile says he’s currently an Assistant at the office of Liberal MPP Joe Dickson in Ajax. At the same time his Blogger profile lists his Occupation as ‘Trying’. ‘Trying’ what? To write poetry? To be Mayor of Port Hope? To find Wendy and the rest of the Lost Boys?

Not only does Mr. Spotton not seem to have what might be called a real job, something that naturally leads voters to think maybe the real reason he wants to be mayor is because it’s a steady paycheck, but he hasn’t served on any Committees of Council either. And, while I stand to be corrected, of the many Port Hope council meetings I’ve suffered through, I can’t recall ever seeing Mr. Spotton share my misery. If you want to be mayor, shouldn’t you start by going to the occasional meeting? Maybe even ask a few questions of the people purporting to serve the Town and its citizens?

Don’t get me wrong; I wish Mr. Spotton well in his journey. I admire anyone brave enough to throw their hat in the ring. I salute anyone who thinks they can unseat the Old Girls Club that runs Port Hope –some of whom were actually elected. But the gentle breezes of poetry are no match for the wicked blasts of hot air that practically peel the paint off the walls every Tuesday night down at Port Hope Town Hall. No match at all.

As for that Manifest 2010, Mr. Spotton, you’d do well to come up with something a little less autocratic-sounding. Get the mandate first –then impose the manifesto.

Just like the autocrats you’re –ahem- “trying” to de-throne.

Note:
For those who are wondering what is going on it is speculated that the column Dan Christie writes for one of the local papers was spiked for being locally offensive and not up to the usual standards of this paper - a SunMedia publication. Hey anybody that publishes Sue Ann Levy can't be all that bad, can it?

Anyway the BurdReport has obtained a copy of the column and it sits above these comments. Mr Christie has given permission, by proxy, to publish:
"How odd. I happened to run into Dan Christie last night. He was holding court at Zest. His spiked column was being passed around the outside patio. I asked if it would be alright if it got posted on The Burd Report. He finished urinating in the corner (well, I think he was urinating anyway...)zipped up his fly, and punched me in the nose. One of his entourage, an elf, said that was his way of saying 'yes'. So I sent the parchment copy of the column (by way of wheelchair courier) to Ben with permission to post it on this site.

Gotta run. My nose is still bleeding...."

Deja-vu all over again!

Having just visited San Francisco I can swear that this topic did not come about as a result of a visit to Haight-Ashbury. But it is a flash-back.

The subject of jetskis is in the news again. It was in my time but that time Councillor Spooner was a bit younger and obviously more spritely then as he was in the news for a trip into the water to accost a jetskier. Yep, he actually got his feet wet when he walked into the water and mouthed off at a couple of yahoos upsetting all on the West Beach. I see his response this week was to see that it (a similar incident) gets investigated by the parks & Rec committee.

Incidentally the clip from the cartoon was one drawn by Barry King (God how we miss that guy) and summed up the complete situation. If I remember correctly the complete cartoon showed Councillor Spooner as well, but being the politician that I was I only kept the clip that was mine. I knew that there would be a reference to it some decades later.

An interesting advertisement

Arriving back from a short vacation and reading the papers to catch up one of the clips that was noticed was a small ad asking for Nurses at the NHH. Just what the F** is going on here? Only weeks after undisclosed amounts of money has been committed to severances for laid off nurses he is looking to hire some of them back!

I'll bet that the money involved would be more than enough to pay for the closed clinics - $450,000 - a shameful performance if there ever was one!

Britain's New Regime Forges Ahead

With the Master safely away on vacation, it's time for the Minion to take over. Casting about for fodder to write about, the Guardian answered my call with a detailed story about announcements made today on the economic front.

Naturally the new coalition government chose a tory for the all important post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, in appointing one George Osborne, who delivered a budget plan that business is quietly supportive of (but still complaining anyway), and unions are predictably upset about.

In announcing cuts of 6.25 billion pounds, this no doubt foreshadows the kind of initiatives we can expect here in Canada in the future, regardless of whether we find ourselves with a conservative or liberal government in the times ahead.

I'm no economist and too many numbers make my head hurt, but I've tried to distil the information into a meaningful snapshot of the kind of cuts that have been imposed so we can try to compare that to our situation here in Canada. I've done my best to get all the numbers right but don't guarantee complete accuracy.

Civil servants will take a hit with a hiring freeze of one year. That's expected to translate into savings of 163 million pounds, and thousands of jobs that will go unfilled. An efficiency and reform group has been formed to ensure the cuts really happen this time, including the use of consultants and job perks like paid travel and other expenses. The Cabinet office has to find savings of only 79 million pounds, which is still better than the funding boost to the PMO that the tories gave themselves in Canada while every other government department was cut back.

The National Health Service was left alone, but Education was cut by 670 million pounds. Some was set aside for increasing apprenticeship programs, and while there were cuts of 780 million pounds to the "Department for Communities and Local Government", an extra 170 million was found for social housing. Grants to local authorities were cut by 1.2 billion pounds at the same time.

The famous Home Office was cut by a modest 357 million pounds, with a mind blowing 135 million coming from police services. Compare that to Canada, where we are criminalizing more and more Canadians with our fake law and order agenda, building more and better jails to house them/us. Our various police bodies rarely have a funding request denied despite the fact that the crime rate has been falling for some years now.

In the "Department for Work and Pensions" (their version of Welfare/Disabilities), cuts to various programs totalled 535 million pounds, with an extra 640 million saved by axing a program called the Child Trust, and cutting "ineffective" job training programs. Funny how no matter which side of the Atlantic you`re on, it`s always the least advantaged who must sacrifice the most.

In Economy and Business, 836 million in unspecified cuts were announced. Likely targets are loans to manufacturing interests, especially the auto sector, although unidentified cuts are the easiest to fall off the butcher`s block.

It kind of looks like the new British version of coalition government is alot like a conservative government, with a few sops thrown in for the Lib Dems to keep them happy. Not too surprising given the election results. After all, this is what the people voted for, and they seem to have been unfazed by the results.

Time will tell how this works out, and what effects will transpire across Europe and here in North America. Hey, it beats reality tv for this watcher of politics.